COLLECTIONS - University of Melbourne

Artists books: Bookworks, poster for exhibition
held 5–22 September 1978, at the Ewing and
George Paton Galleries, University of Melbourne.
Poster lithograph; 45.0 x 32.0 cm. System number
001779618, National Gallery of Australia
Research Library. © George Paton Gallery.
Image reproduced courtesy of the National Gallery
of Australia Research Library.
poster (illustrated above) is in keeping
with the nature of some of the artists’
books of the time. As one of the
library staff commented to me, ‘cool
typography’.
A history of the George Paton
Gallery has recently been published. 14
It seems that the artists’ book
exhibition was in line with the
Gallery’s program of presenting
cutting-edge art, which continues to
this day. In the Gallery’s records, now
held at the University of Melbourne
Archives, 15 I found a collection of
slide images from the 1978
exhibition. One slide depicts a woman
viewing a selection of artists’ books
from the Franklin Furnace Archive
laid out on a table (illustrated on page
17). Note the visitors were allowed to
handle the artwork!
The Australian section of the
1978 exhibition then travelled to the
USA in late 1979, firstly to the
Franklin Furnace in New York, then
to other locations. The exhibition,
titled Contemporary Australian
book/works, was curated by Jill Scott
and co-curated by Kiffy Rubbo of the
Ewing and George Paton Galleries
and Noel Sheridan of the
Experimental Art Foundation in
Adelaide. This is believed to be the
first international exhibition of
Australian artists’ books.
Unfortunately a catalogue of this
momentous exhibition was not found,
but I did find flyers, correspondence
and a selection of photographic slides
in the George Paton Gallery archive. 16
From 30 June to 22 July 1983 the
George Paton Gallery held a second
exhibition of artists’ books. 17 The
exhibition, in two parts, was of
international artists’ books put
together by a Canadian, Tim Guest
of Art Metropole, Toronto, and an
Italian, Mirella Bentivoglio. Guest’s
exhibition featured 28 international
artists’ books including works by
leaders in the field Dieter Roth,
Michael Snow and Edward Ruscha. 18
An image from an artists’ book by
Luigi Ontani was included on the
front cover of the catalogue. 19
Bentivoglio’s exhibition included
works by 22 Italian artists. 20 The
George Paton Gallery’s director noted
that both these exhibitions drew a
large number of people to the
gallery. 21 The Age art critic, Memory
Holloway, reviewed the exhibition
and after asking the question ‘When
is a book not a book, but a work of
art?’, she noted that ‘You are invited
by the gallery to put on a pair of
white gloves and then to move in and
around the white tables which are
strewn with books.’ 22
In May 2006 the Baillieu Library
held a symposium to accompany the
exhibition Art bound: A selection of
artists’ books. 23 The core of the
exhibition of 72 works was drawn
from the Baillieu’s strongly
developing collection of artists’ books.
Additional works were sourced
through the Art in the Library
Program, including examples from
students of the University’s School of
Creative Arts. The exhibition was
held in the Baillieu Library’s Leigh
Scott Gallery and the books were
displayed in glass cabinets. 24 The
symposium brought together a range
of interested parties and speakers,
including a number of practising
artists who presented on the topic of
artists’ books. 25
At about this point my project
time was fast running out. I had
learned more than I could have
imagined about artists’ books, and
discovered some of the delights of
Special Collections and the
University of Melbourne Archives.
Artists’ books are a living and
evolving art form. The opportunity
exists for the University to expand the
collection along with the art’s
development and maintain what is a
significant collection.
I would like to thank Pam Pryde (Curator), Susan
Millard (Deputy Curator) and all the staff in
Special Collections at the Baillieu Library for their
assistance with this project, as well as Karina
Lamb, Acting Student Projects Coordinator
(Cultural Collections), who provided valuable
support along the way.
18
University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 2010